The present invention relates to basin type plumbing fixtures (especially bathtubs and sinks). More particularly it relates to controls useable with such basins that can both govern flow through a basin's lower drain outlet and the basin's overflow outlet.
It is conventional to have a drain outlet at the bottom of a bathtub, sink or the like, and an overflow outlet positioned adjacent an upper rim. If water is running into the basin, and the bottom drain is closed or clogged, continued flow could cause excess water to spill, absent such an overflow. As such, these overflows are typically designed so that if water rises too high in the basin, before reaching the rim and spilling the water will instead pass out the overflow outlet and go to a by-pass drain line. See e.g. U.S. Pat. No. 3,835,484.
The bottom drain outlet used with these basins is typically controlled by a plug or stopper that is remotely actuatable without the need to touch the plug itself. This is often achieved through the use of mechanical levers or cable linkages. See e.g. U.S. Pat. No. 6,637,051. It is also sometimes achieved where an actuator for the linkage is associated with a control mounted adjacent the overflow outlet. See e.g. U.S. Pat. No. 4,594,738.
Regardless, provision is typically made to always leave the overflow outlet open. Whatever benefits this has for avoiding spillage, it necessarily also prevents the tub from being filled up all the way to the rim. Hence, some volume capacity of the tub is “wasted”. This can make it difficult for large consumers to have their torso completely immersed during bathing when using standard size bathtubs.
There have therefore been some attempts to have a drain control that also provides an option to close off the overflow somewhat when extra water volume is desired in the tub. See e.g. U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,835,484 and 3,859,676. However, these prior designs could increase clogging potential by mounting linkages along the drain passageways, and in any event were non-intuitive and relatively expensive to produce.
In separate work there have been a variety of drain stoppers developed which act somewhat like a ballpoint pen. When stepped on once they will click to a closure position. When stepped on a second time they will click to an open position. Hence, using a foot (or optionally a hand) the bottom drain outlet can be controlled by direct contact. See e.g. U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,195,819, 6,442,770 and 6,880,179. However, this requires a willingness to have a foot or hand pass through standing water to open the bottom drain after use, may leave an uncomfortable projection in the tub, and in any event does not address control of the overflow outlet.
There is therefore a need for providing improved combined controls for basin bottom drains and overflow outlets.